Telecommunication service providers have historically deployed varying types of shelves, such as a 3190 series mechanics shelf, in remote cabinets to provide telephony services over copper wire. In some situations, such as providing network access to base stations, the environment can be very noisy. Fiber optic communications are more immune to such noisy environments than copper wires and can provide higher bandwidth services. It is, therefore, desirable to use fiber optic cable rather than copper wire.
Unfortunately, the mechanics shelves, such as the 3190 series shelf, are not able to connect to fiber optic networks. This is due, in part, to the older shelves having particular card connectors requiring certain configurations to which a fiber cable is not able to connect. Replacement of the copper wire and shelves is cost prohibitive. Likewise, installing additional shelves capable of connecting to fiber optic networks along side existing shelves is also cost prohibitive and not an efficient use of resources. Therefore, typical telecommunication service providers must choose between the benefits of fiber optic networks and the high cost of replacing older mechanics shelves.